Fall 2011 School

We are getting ready to start our new school year . . . in a couple weeks, but I'm feeling excited - our books arrived today, I spent the weekend getting notebooks ready and putting together a schedule - so I thought I'd share our {tentative} plans. 

Curriculum:

Devotional- We are continuing to read the New Testament using Penny Gardner's Storied Scriptures and The Book of Virtues.  I've decided to have A and N start a Scripture Study notebook where they will be making narrations of what we study and keeping any other pertinent papers.  

 Math - Math-U-See Gamma

 Handwriting Without Tears - Finishing up Cursive Handwriting and moving into the Cursive Success

. 

Literature - We will be adding Shakespeare and Plutarch this year, reading from the Milestone's and Ambleside Online's Year 5 suggested reading lists, and from our many poetry books. The plan is to do a lot more concert reading, something I learned about from the Milestone's Academy founder, so I tried to get enough copies of the books for each of us to have our own, or N and I will share. 

Science & Nature Study - Exploring Creation with Zoology 1 and experiment kit from Rainbow Resource, with a little supplementing from the Zoology Coloring Book.  Nature Study will be from the Handbook of Nature Study blog. 

 History & Geography - We will continue with The Story of the World (SOTW) Volume One: Ancient Times. I was able to get a great deal on the curriculum guide with some student pages so we will supplement with some notebook pages and activities, in addition to mapping, keeping a timeline, and narrations.  

Art & Music - We will continue using the Harmony Fine Arts (HFA) & Music lessons for Ancient Art and the Orchestra. On Fridays we will be doing art projects - pastels, watercolors, etc.

 Foreign Language - I am trying to add this in, but I've tried in the past and its always fallen to the side, so we'll see what happens this year.  We used to do a lot of sign language so I thought that would be easy to add to our schedule with Signing Time and Pick Me Up! From Songs for Learning Signs. My husband speaks Brazilian Portuguese so we are going to start learning some songs from Putamayo Kids Brazilian Playground.  They have a Teacher's Guide with song lyrics and translations. 

Preschool for O & J - These two want to do their own school work so much!! They have their own totes, notebooks, and pencil boxes, and are always asking for their own pages of school work. Despite my aversion toworksheet-like school, I decided to give Rod & Staff's ABC books a try.  We'll also be doing math games, art projects, and reading from the Before Five In A Row, Milestone's Year 0, and Ambleside Year 0 booklists. 

Organization:

 For each school subject, A and O have a notebook with tabs inside separating each sub-subject.  For each subject they will have notebook pages to write or draw their narrations on. 

 All their notebooks and other workbooks are kept in their totes. I have a couple more totes where I keep all the current books we are using together. 

Schedule:

This is a picture of the planner I've made to keep us on track.  On the left axis are the days of the week, and along the top are the different subjects. As we complete assignments I mark them with a highlighter to show they are done.

Monday
Devotional
Math
Handwriting
Shakespeare
Chapter book read aloud (RA)
Science
HFA - Art Lesson
Portuguese

Tuesday
Devotional
Math
Handwriting
Plutarch
RA
Nature Study
SOTW
Sign Language

Wednesday
Devotional
Math
Handwriting
Shakespeare
RA
Science
HFA - Music Lesson
Portuguese

Thursday
Devotional
Math
Handwriting
Shakespeare
RA
Nature Study
SOTW/Timeline
Sign Language

Friday
Devotional
Math Games
Handwriting
RA
Art Projects

Each day has the same general pattern -

Day starts around 7am - wake up & do personal scripture study
Get dressed, hair, etc.
Breakfast & clean up
Bedroom chores
Devotional, math, handwriting, personal reading - I work with O & J while A & N do their work
One or two more subjects, depending on time and attention spans
Morning break - we usually head outside to ride bikes or other PE type activity, and then come in for a quick snack
One or two more subjects, depending on time and attention spans
Lunch & Clean up
Family Work - folding laundry or cleaning zones in the house
Finish school work - done by 2pm at the latest
Free afternoons
Dinner & Clean up
Bedtime

Activities:

We are going to be doing swimming lessons for the fall.  A is doing Scouts and First Lego League. N does Acticity Days (a church group for girls 8-11) and possibly an art class. We'll have weekly activities with our homeschool group through September and then we'll do monthly activities through winter.  I'm in charge of our young women's church sports for our ward which will mean weekly games and possibly practices.  I've had talks with a few friends for a fall hiking group, but we'll see if it really happens. I'm trying to cut back on activities, but it doesn't really feel like that's going to happen!!!

May & June 2011 School

In May we ended up doing only 3 weeks of "official" school. Then the weather became nicer, we had some house guests, field trips, birthdays, and even though we completed most of our subjects for the year, school sort of fizzled out. 

 

 Devotional

This is the one subject which we continue to do (most days anyways) by starting out with a prayer, singing songs, memorizing scriptures, and reading our way through the New Testament.  The value for May was Courage and there were many wonderful stories to go with this value in the Book of Virtues.  

Math

We finished Math-U-See Beta!!! A and N have also had some great practice with their math and strategy skills playing dice and card games, and board games like Life and Othello.

Literature

We finished Pilgrim's Progress and they both promptly asked to start reading it again.  We will, but we will probably wait for our full schedule to start up again in the Fall.  They have both been excited about checking books out from the library - Star Wars series, Bionicles series, a few more of the Warriors series and a couple Chronicles of Narnia books for A, and Magic Tree House & other easy-reads for N.  They've also listened to:

Swiss Family Robinson

Pollyanna

Johnny Tremain

Alice in Wonderland (BBC Radio edition)

Thimble Summer

The Sign of the Beaver

The Cricket in Times Square

Half-Magic

And some old favorites too- 

The Lord of the Rings (BBC Radio edition)

Gone Away Lake & Return to Gone Away

Pinocchio

Tales from the Odyssey

The Wind in the Willows (BBC Radio edition)

Homer Price

The BBC Radio editions are actors acting out the books, so the story is somewhat abridged and my kids think they are harder to understand and follow, so we'll be getting the unabridged version from now on.  

 History, Art, & Music

I was going to keep doing this through the summer, however I decided to be realistic and knew we wouldn't really want to do a lot in the summer.  So when we reached the end of week 12 in the Harmony Fine Arts program and it was also the end of the Egyptian Art section I decided to stop us there.  We also stopped The Story of the World: Ancient Times at chapter 12.  We will pick them both back up in the Fall.  History is one subject that has greatly improved this year - the kids are more interested now that I've found resources and methods that work with their learning styles and attention spans.

Science

We finished Exploring Creation with Astronomy- the last couple chapters were about Stars and NASA.  We watched Endeavor launch and a number of the mission videos and interviews.  We also watched the landing of one of Russia's ships, which was a great way for the kids to compare the differences with the space shuttles. To finish up our Astronomy studies we went to Clark Planetarium for a morning.  The kids had a great time trying out all the exhibits.  We will also be watching the launch of Atlantis this coming week. 

Nature Study

We have been doing our nature study these month - I haven't been very good at blogging about it.  I did get a few posts in May - Bird Study, Mammal Study, & Wildflowers/Hike.  I don't think I will be posting June's - it too hard to catch up sometimes!

 So what are we doing for the Summer?

We are going to continue with our Devotionals, Math, Handwriting, & Literature.  We also have a summer science focus - this year its rocks & minerals.  We've been growing crystals, cracking geodes, and learning about the rock cycle.  Examining and testing our rock sets and creating our own rock collections. We did a hike to Mt. Timpanogos cave where we say stalactites, stalagmites, and many other formations. We have all enjoyed reading library books with a "rock" theme, though not necessarily non-fiction books, for example The Blue Stone, A Gift From the Sea, Elizabeti's Doll, Rocks in His Head, and Sylvester and the Magic Pebble.  I am also planning some fun rock crafts - rock pets will be one. We don't do all subjects, every day, but on days when we are going to be home and don't have much going on.  Its really better for all of us to have some structure. 

We've been on lots of hikes, swimming, biking, playing in the sandbox, going to parks, jumping on the trampoline, watching birds, catching bugs, and eating lots of Popsicles.  We are potty-training the 3 year old with the usual mixed success :) and our baby turned 1 and is learning to walk.  We are using our 4 year old's necessary doctor appointments and MRI's as learning experiences for our older kids, who are curious and concerned and sometimes think they are being left out. 

It's summer and lovely!! We hope you are having a good time too!

3 - 2 - 1 - Blast Off!

 Well, Endeavor may have needed to delay its launch, but A and N's rockets, CENTAURIAN and GEMINI-N blasted off perfectly this week. 

 We used Alka Seltzer and water in a film canister - I broke up our tablets so we could launch the rockets more than once. 

 Prepping the launch pad.

a ready audience!

Okay - so maybe I had a few complications at first. 

Endeavour’s final mission, STS-134, is scheduled to launch Monday, May 14th, at 8:56 a.m. EDT.  Watch it live on NASA-TV.

Spring Bird Study

 I'm really excited for the new May Newsletter from Handbook of Nature Study.  I *hope* it will help us get back into doing nature study.  The Spring weather already has us spending more time outside and our first nature study for this month is of a new bird visiting our birdfeeder - the Lazuli Bunting.  

Here is a not so great photo:

This bird is not in the Handbook of Nature Study book, so we used our Peterson Field Guide to Birds of Western North America and All About Birds to learn more about the Lazuli Bunting. 

Something interesting that stood out to my kids is that the Lazuli Bunting likes to live in "recent post-fire habitats" - they excitedly starting tell me we were seeing so many of them because of the fire near our city last year - my fire posts 1 and 2.  Maybe . . . and maybe its because I changed the bird seed to a songbird variety :). Whatever the reason we are having fun watching these little blue beauties. 

 I let my kids color in a bird outline from the Notebooking Nook's Nature Study - Birds - this set of notebook pages is free at CurrClick. 

N's picture



A's picture



O's picture - she decided to do another frequent visitor to our yard, the Robin :)

Post edited to add another picture of the Lazuli Bunting:

April 2011 School

Devotional

We are still  reading the New Testament Storied Scriptures but we skipped ahead the week before Easter to read the final week of the Savior's life.  Unfortunately, most of us were sick that week and we ended up not doing our traditional pre-Easter activities that help us focus on the Savior.  We focused on the Value of Work this month, reading from The Book of Virtues, which included one of our family favorites: The Elves and the Shoemaker.

Math

We spent an extra week on Chapter 21, and then flew through chapters 22-25.  I love how we can take as little or as much time as A and N need to understand concepts before we move on.  The Math-U-See newsletter was wonderful this month - Beware of Being Behind. So helpful for me!

Literature

We are nearing the end of Little Pilgrim's Progress: Christiana's Journey.  I am always amazed by the understanding my kids show with this book - SO SMART! We have also been reading from A Child's Treasury of Poems edited by Mark Daniel. 

A and N both finished up their reading for their book clubs and had their final meetings for this semester.  I'm glad its over and we can read other books! We won't be continuing these clubs next year. 

N and I are reading The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane together - we take turns reading paragraphs.  Its helped me realize she is a much stronger reader than she lets on.  If you ask her, "Can you read this-that?" she will still say she can't - how to get her out of that mentality? 

A is reading The Hobbit and the first book in the Warriors series, Into the Wild. 

Books they listened to this month (unabridged):

Robinson Crusoe

Black Beauty

The Incredible Journey

Pollyana

 History

We read chapters 6-9 in the Story of the World: Ancient Times, making maps and adding figures to our timeline as we went along.  Next month I'll make sure I take pictures of those. The kids have read a variety of library books - fiction and nonfiction - about Egypt.  We watched National Geographic: Secrets of the Pharaohs - this was a lot more graphic than we were prepared for - modern scientists turning a cadaver into a mummy- yikes! We also watched Riddles of the Sphinx: Nova and Building Pharaoh's Ship: Nova. We also watched The Story of India: Spice Routes and Silk Road to go along with the chapter about India.  I love how we can (usually) find documentaries about any subject to watch instantly on Netflix. 

Art

We are reading from Ancient Egypt (we have an older edition) and drawing some of the pictured items - statues, jewelry, symbols, etc.  We are also doing projects from Ralph Masiello's Ancient Egypt Drawing Book.  The Harmony Fine Arts program we are using also has some coloring pages for each week. 

A & N attended one of their art classes this month - we were sick the week of the other one.  They studied Van Gogh's Bedroom and drew/painted pictures of their own bedrooms. 

Music

We continued with Harmony Fine Arts plans on the Orchestra - finishing up our study of keyboard instruments and moving on to woodwind instruments.  We read about several instruments in The Story of the Orchestra, also listening to the corresponding selections on the CD.  Then we learn more through the resources suggested in the HFA plans or find other resources online. 

Science

Finished up Chapter 11 & 12 in Exploring Creation with Astronomy. We watched a couple episodes on the Planets series: Different Worls and Giants.  We also watched Hubble's Amazing Rescue: Nova and The Universe: Outer Planets.   

We watched NASA-TV in anticipation of the Endeavor launch . . . and then the launch was postponed.  Next week!!! 

Nature Study

We still have cold weather.  We had a little snow this morning! We did a couple nature studies this month - spring flower, tree, and bird - but they definitely lacked enthusiasm.  Come on Mother Nature- tomorrow is May!! Let's have some sunshine!

 PreK

I am trying to come up with a more consistent plan, but "consistent" is an oxymoron when used to describe a 3 and 4 year old.  Usually whatever I have planned only takes 2 minutes or is vetoed and other, less desirable activities are chosen - emptying closets of clothes, pulling all the bedding off beds, pulling all the books off shelves, writing all over the walls (although they have started to make pictures instead of random scribbling).  Each day we read together and do an art project or activity. 

Right now we are also trying to have more structured times during the day: table time where they work at the table with us - coloring or printing readiness; blanket time where they sit on their blankets playing quietly with a toy or activity set aside specifically for school time (I have a whole closetful); and play time where they pick toys from our basement playroom and play upstairs where I can see them.  That's the important part these days- keeping them where I can see them.

School - February 2011

   

Devotional

We continued to read the New Testament and spent the month focusing on Responsibility for our value and getting into a daily routine for our habit. 

Math

Continuing with Math-U-See . . . This is one subject I worry about.  A lot.  A and N are both probably a grade behind, but we have been going slow so they can master concepts before we move on.  I keep reminding myself they will catch up as their skill level improves and their ability to work independently increases. 

 

Literature

I made a deal with A and N - they get to pick a book to read, then I pick a book for them.  A has been re-reading the Percy Jackson books and Greek Myths and listening to The Lord of the Rings series, and I picked Treasure Island for him.  N has been listening to Magic Treehouse books and I picked The Secret Garden and Heidi for her. 

We spent the week before Valentine's Day reading wonderful poetry.  We are still reading Pilgrim's Progress, Minn of the Mississippi, poetry, and books for the book clubs (A-biography of Isaac Newton, N-Kirsten Learns a Lesson, Kirsten's Surprise). 

 

History, Geography,  Art & Music Appreciation

I did a major change up with these subjects.  We started using The Story of the World Volume 1: Ancient Times.  This is not a resource I am a big fan of - if you read the reviews on Amazon you would get a glimpse into some of my reasons why I don't like it.  However, of the different history spines we have tried using in the past, my kids do like this series the best. They listen to this series.  They narrate this series well.  So we are using it, but we are going to supplement with a few other things to improve the quality of this subject. 

We will continue to make a timeline as we read - I made one using a permanent marker and poster, and we hung it in our school room area.  We have always used maps with our history, but we are going to do more history related mapping projects,  and not do an additional geography book (like the Holing books we have used in the past).

I found lesson plans at Satori Smiles which list hands-on activities, movie and online suggestions, and other resources for each chapter of the book.  With the first chapter we did a short Family History book and simulated an archaelogical dig in our sand box. 

We are also using Harmony Fine Art's art & music appreciation plans - Ancient Art and the Orchestra.  I have used the Outdoor Hour Challenges and other resources from Barb-Harmony Art Mom for a couple years now, and her plans are an excellent resource for expanding our learning of Ancient Times. This past week they made their own cave art on cardboard. 

The music appreciation plan focuses on learning about the orchestra.  So,  for the next year we won't be studying individual artists or composer as we have in the past.  This is different for us, but so far these changes are working out wonderfully and the kids are enjoying these subjects.  I like having the plans all laid out for me - less work!

Science - Astronomy

We continue to read from Exlporing Creation with Astronomy finishing chapters 8-Space Rocks and 9-Jupiter this month.  We spent more time this month watching NASA TV (We watched the preparation and launch of Discovery last week - very exciting!) and visiting the Nasa website.  My kids continue to add more constellation to their journals and still enjoy hearing the stories behind them. 

Nature Study

We haven't been doing these as much as I would like, but its hard to be motivated to get out in the miserable cold weather, especially with my little girls.  We did a couple this month on days with better weather and are really looking forward to spring. 

Preschool

When I remember to do activities - learning and for fun - with O and J it really makes a difference in our day.  They feel like they are getting some of my time and don't try to get my attention through more destructive means (at least not all the time).  It also means they spend their day more constructively.  

We usually start by reading books together (Mother Goose is a favorite right now) and then do an action activity - London Bridges, Ring-Around-the-Rosies, etc.  Following this its "Blanket Time" - they each pick an acitivity or toy from a closet where I keep things just for this time and they sit on their blankets and play.  Blanket time usually lasts 45 minutes to an hour with 2 or 3 activity switches which I use to work with A and N (I learned about blanket time from the Duggars book).

When J takes her nap in the afternoon I try to school acitvities for O to do.  I have her sit next to me while I work with A and N.  Her activities are printing readiness, counting manipulatives, etc. 

But as I said before, its all contingent on ME, and how prepared (or not) I am for the week.